The present invention relates to an air supply device for the passenger cell of a motor vehicle, and more particularly, to an air supply device designed not only for air conveyance, but also for the separation of water from fresh air to be supplied to the passenger cell.
The conveyance of air and the separation of water from air supplied to a passenger cell have hitherto taken place in separate components, to be precise by way of a blower and a water box. In this arrangement, for example, large-volume water boxes in the engine space are needed for water separation. Known systems, as disclosed, for example, in DE 199 44 530 C1 and DE 197 56 983 C1, use air-deflecting elements which lead to high pressure losses.
Furthermore, passive water separation systems are known such as shown, for example, in DE 199 23 195 C1, in which water drops from supplied fresh air fall into an interspace between lamellae in the region of a water outflow and may burst apart when they impinge on the water outflow bottom. This gives rise to an undesirable mist of very small water drops which may pass back into the air flow and be entrained by the latter.
An object of the present invention is to provide an air supply device in which active water and particle (pre-)separation takes place.
This object has been achieved, according to the present invention, by way of an air supply device for the axial suction intake of fresh air and, opposite, a port for the issue of fresh air from which water has been separated, and a rotating element operatively arranged in an axial suction intake region of the housing, said rotating element effectively covering the port for the axial suction intake of fresh air in such a way that all the sucked-in drops of water impinge onto the rotating element and are transported towards the wall of the housing and discharged via a water discharge.
The air supply device according to the present invention ensures, a reliable separation of raindrops out of the fresh air stream sucked in for the purpose of vehicle air-conditioning. Moreover, air conveyance and water separation as well as particle (pre-)separation, can be simultaneously carried out in one multi-functional component. For this purpose, in the axial suction-intake region of the air-conditioning blower, raindrops sucked in together with the fresh air impinge on rotating elements axially preceding the blower. The raindrops thereby acquire an essentially tangential momentum, with the result that they are transported towards the housing wall. They are intercepted there by drop interception elements, without bursting open, and are discharged.
In this manner, only a very small construction space is required for the air supply device according to the present invention. Moreover, the air entry area is smaller, and consequently the entering water quantity or water quantity to be discharged is reduced.